We Could Do It After All
by Danceswithkeys
Summary: Emily never felt like much of a Storm Rider. She had no road, no skill just her will. That was until she met Rikia, the Rink Queen. Maybe it's time for Emily to carve her own road into the ice...
1. We Are Who We Are

Just like in track' Emily Adachi thought to herself as she put herself in position. Her muscles remembered her middle school (though her hobby proceeded well into high school) training. Knees bent, one leg forward, one backward, face down, hands on the ground with the palms up. Was she forgetting anything..? Oh yes and ass lifted into optimal position to give her the perfect launch. She was in starting position, moreover an AT starting position, one of the hardest things to master for an AT pro. F class riders don't attempt it, as the control and balance comes with experience. She was eternally grateful for joining Kogarasumaru. They put her in such situations that she needed to learn how to ride.. and learn fast. They raised her to A class and now it was time for her to start acting like an A Class rider and the Flame King's girl.

That's what she was now to the AT world, the Flame King's girl. The guts-type rider who follows no road.. though many expected her to follow the Flame road like Kazuma. She wasn't one for speed however, as far as ATs were concerned anyhow. Even if she wasn't planning on being speed based, she needed to get up to A Class level speed if she ever wanted to feel like she belonged to the AT world.

Emily did a last check on her position. Perfect. She counted down in her head from 3… and she was off like a bullet from a gun. Her ATs whirred quietly in relation to her speed. She wall rode up the building in front of her and landed on the roof. She dashed on the roof at breakneck pace. She jumped on the next building. This pattern continued until she had made it to her house and back, about 4 miles in total. An A Class rider could have covered that in less then 4 minutes, about a mile a minute. Emily checked her time; 4 minutes 31 second. She sighed. She was getting better but it still wasn't good enough.

She leaned against the wall of the building, huffing and very hot after her dash. Her speed had improved but it wasn't good enough. Speed was a given for all riders, even if not of the Flame road. She took off her light blue tank top and ATs, leaving her in her black sports bra and barefooted. It was in the dead of summer. School was out still for another 2 weeks. Emily closed her eyes. It would be her first year going to college. She was dreading it. Kazu wasn't going to the same college as her. In fact, he wasn't going to college at all. The Kings and Queens of the Roads didn't need too. Of course she would see him on weekends and when she didn't have class. She relaxed against the wall. It was hot and there was such a gentle breeze flowing..

"Emily, did you beat your time?'

Her eyes snapped open and without thinking she took a swing at the source of the voice. Surprise to her, she hit air. She hopped up and looked for the source of the voice. She was ready to fight whoever it was that surprised her. She heard a laugh from beside her. She turned and saw Kazuma Mikura, Kazu for short. He was in a fit of laughter. She hadn't expected him this soon. He was supposed to be at the monthly AT King and Queen meeting. She wondered to herself if he left just so he could scare her when she was relaxing

"What are you laughing at Kazu?" Emily said, blushing. "You just startled me is all.."

"Still funny, Emily" Kazu said. "If I wasn't wearing my ATs, you would have surely broken my face"

Kazu casually rode over to where Emily still stood. It was hard to believe that he was once Kazu-sama, the shadow of Storm King Ikki. Since then, he has evolved to be just as good as Ikki. He also had changed a lot in appearance. He ditched his beanie and his tan hoodie. Now he just wears a red t-shirt (and a black long sleeve underneath when it gets cold) and jeans. He wore his hair in much of the same style though it was fluffier because he didn't wear a hat anymore (and started listening to Yayoi a little more on how to take care of himself).

"4 minutes 31 seconds" Kazu said looking at the stopwatch Emily had "Better. Much better. You'll be A-Class speed in no time"

"Doubt it" Emily said. She fanned herself with her hand. "I'm fast on foot but with ATs, I'm just average. I haven't even joined a road yet and it's been.. how long since Sora and the Wing Road fell? Four years."

"Your time as Jon Omaha doesn't count." Kazu pointed out, sitting down. He pulled Emily down next to him, making her gasp a little in surprise. "Have a little more confidence in yourself"

"This coming from the guy who bed wetted until he was 6" Emily said, smiling. "And the guy who wore a beanie until very recently."

He smiled at Emily but she could see that he was blushing. She grabbed his hand and held it in her hands. His nails were unkempt and filthy..again. She made a mental note to force him to let her clean his nails. He neglected himself when he was thinking about something.

"How did the meeting go, Kazu?" Emily said. "Did something happen? You got out pretty early."

"Eh no one showed up" Kazu said. "Everyone is still a little shocked that Min decided to retire. She hasn't named a successor yet so it's still all up in the air at this point. Well by no one showing up I meant no one that actually wanted to be there. Ikki and Kururu were there but they were too busy making googly eyes at each other to want to anything." Kazu laughed "I never thought I'd see the day that Ikki would make those eyes at anyone."

"How are they?" Emily asked, moving her and Kazu's hand to a more comfortable position when she realized she was massaging his hand very slowly "Kururu and Ikki I mean. I haven't seen much of them lately."

"They looked healthy to me. Happy. Ikki doesn't actually talk about her much, mentions her in passing. Though I heard they're getting a little serious right now" Kazu said, more of matter-of-fact then anything. It didn't exactly surprise Kazu. Kururu knew Ikki more then anyone, even Kazu himself. She knew everything right down to the sound of his ATs.

"I saw Agito with a girl today." Emily said, remembering it when Kazu mentioned Ikki and Kururu. "I couldn't stop to talk but I did catch that her name was Fei. She looks pretty wild. Perfect for Agito I guess. As for Akito... I'm sure he likes her too"

"I heard of Fei" Kazu said, laughing. "She clings to Agito all the time. A bit of a child at heart. She's a good rider however. She follows the Bloody road and is known the northern isles as the 'Coyote of the Sea'. Originally she came here to learn the ways of the Fang from the Fang king himself.. though she seems to have overstayed her welcome"

"I'm glad." Emily said. She curled up her legs and leaned her head on her knees to look at Kazu. "This is good for Agito. Maybe it will help him learn that life isn't all about ATs."

It was silent for sometime after that. It didn't matter to either of them however. Silence wasn't an awkward thing for either of them as it might be for other couples. She liked just looking at him sometimes, marveling over how he'd grown so much since he became Flame King. He was no longer the quiet Kazu-sama but rather the defensive Kazu. He transformed into this person in just four years but she supposed it was a much different world four years ago.

Since the fall of Sora, the Wing Road has fallen as well. No one saw it anymore, except for Ikki but he was first and foremost the Storm King and since the Sky Regalia hasn't been recovered, the Sky King will not come into existence. Sleeping Forest and Genesis have been forcefully disbanded and the Kings and Queens will subdue anyone who tries to revive one of those teams. The current Kings and Queens are Kazu the Flame King, Ikki the Storm King, Ringo the Thorn Queen, Kururu the Pledge Queen, Muen the Rumble Queen, Kilik the Gem King and Agito the Fang King. The Thunder King title is still up for grabs since Min retired. That leaves it with 8 roads. Though the riders did not have to follow these roads, they were the ones most commonly followed and the most powerful.

"If the Thunder King title is retired what will happen to the council?" Emily asked, breaking the silence.

"Probably nothing" Kazu said. "Though I hear from the other Kings and Queens that there's this girl from America who calls herself the Rink Queen of the Ice Road. Apparently, she has regalia. If the rumors are true then she might be accepted into our ranks."

"Because she has a Regalia?" Emily asked

"Mostly. A Regalia releases such power from your ATs" Kazu fingered the wheels on his own ATs, tracing the form of the kitsune adorned on it. "It's almost like magic. Physics backs it but it really feels like magic."

Emily moved herself closer to Kazu. Accepting the invitation, Kazu wrapped his arms around Emily. It was a hot day but it didn't stop Emily from stealing a couple moments with Kazu. Kazu was a bit of a different person in a relationship. He wasn't as outspoken and surprisely soft in the heart.. for a guy anyway.

Unfortunately, moments like that didn't last long. She heard Kazu's cell phone ring. Kazu mumbled a faint curse before answering the phone.

"What is it now?" Kazu said to the person on the other line. The voice came from the phone and by the rhythm of the voice, she instantly recognized it as Ikki's voice. "I don't think so. Well, we can't exactly have a meeting if no one shows up... no. What do you mean she..? She moved to Japan? Is she that stupid? Alright alright I'll be there."

"Do you have to go?" Emily asked.

Kazu stood up. "Yeah" He said, rubbing the back of his head. "Apparently our 'Rink Queen' has come to Japan. And now we have to have another meeting..." He sighed, irritated. "And now people will show up because something interesting has come up"

"That's fine" Emily said. She got up as well and strapped on her ATs. "I have to get home anyway. I've been out so late... my family will be worried."

"They still don't know you do Air Trecks?" Kazu asked, putting his cell phone away and fixing the straps on his ATs. "At some point you are going to have to tell them. You know that right, Emily?"

"Yes" Emily said. She put back on her sweatshirt. Of course she knew it. She had people tell her everyday that she couldn't keep Air Trecks a secret forever and that her parents deserved to know and whatever. She couldn't tell them. She couldn't tell them that she quit track for ATs. Her father was so proud of her when she was in track...

"I better get going." Kazu said. "Maybe finally I'll actually get to do something..."

And in a flash, Kazu was gone from her sight. She felt the faint warmth that came from his AT trail but there was no fire. She whispered something to herself and began to make her way back to her house. There was a hotter then normal breeze from behind and suddenly she felt Kazu's hand on her shoulder. She turned around and before she could say anything, he landed a kiss on her lips. And with that he was gone.

She touched her lips silently and smiled. Kazu wasn't as forgetful as she thought…

"Where have you been young lady?"

Her mother as expected was waiting for her when she came back. It had fallen into a pattern of sorts. Emily would be out past what she said she would be by at least 10 minutes. Her mother or father or even both would be waiting for her, tell her something about honor and then go back to whatever they were doing. Emily was dreading college but at the same time the freedom of living away from her parents seemed pretty sweet.

"With Kazu " Emily said. She put her AT bag in the closet and looked at her mother whose expression change to dislike. Her parents made no secret of the fact that they didn't approve of Kazu. To them, he was a punk with no future. To her, he was the man she fell in love with and that wasn't going to change. To the AT world, he was their Flame King, the master of speed and holder of the Flame Regalia.

"You know how me and your father feel about that boy" Her mother said. "Emily, he's a punk, a delinquent. He's not even going to college and he hangs out with that Ikki. Ikki is even worse. He was the one who got Kazuma into ATs. He was decent before ATs and now he's just horrid. Nasty things they are…"

Emily wasn't really listening to her mother. She had heard all of it before. All about Ikki and ATs and how she should never get near ATs. Her parents didn't understand. In fact, they barely noticed anything was different 4 years ago besides her disappearing for 3 months to America. It wasn't really a biggie though. Jon Omaha himself personally apologized and made up some story about it being a matter of international security (in a way it was).

After her mom was finished with her speech, she retired to her bedroom and Emily to hers. She lay down on her bed and looked up at the ceiling. She could never tell her parents about ATs. They wouldn't understand. They wouldn't understand the freedom it gives her. They wouldn't understand what it means to fly. Lots of older kids like her had trouble with telling their parents about ATs. Most adults did not even know of Genesis and Sleeping Forest and the great battle that decided the fate of riders everywhere. They did not know that Ikki, Kazu, Kururu and all the others were heros in their own rights.

It was all too much of the same. She didn't want think about it anymore

Instead she thought about what Kazu was doing. The 'Rink Queen' moving to Japan..? Was she going to be accepted into the ranks? Was she really that powerful? There weren't many female storm riders but the ones that she knew of were all pretty good. And this 'Ice Regalia'.. what did it do? True Regalia were rare to find and most of the Regalia used today were sub-Regalia, copies of the original. The only three true Regalia Emily knew of were the Flame, Storm and Thunder Regalia and those have shown such power in the world of AT...

Emily yawned. It was too much. This whole AT thing really did seem like magic, though most of it could be explained through physics. Emily's eyes began to fall. She wanted to wait for Kazu to come to her window and take her for a ride. It had been his habit to stop by after her parents were asleep to pick her up and take her around the town at supersonic speeds. It was so exhilarating. The wind blowing past them, her hair going wild. It felt like they weren't in control of anything.. but she trusted Kazu to control his speed.

She was so tired. Everything ached from a full day of training. Everything from her toes to her fingers. She would have to train more tomorrow. She needed to get up to A Class level. Emily felt her body forcing her to relax and she didn't resist the fit of sleep that over took her.

Just before she drifted off, she heard the distance voice of a female singing..(Note it was in English)

'_Hot and dangerous, if you're one of us then roll with us..."_


	2. Disco Heaven

**A/N: **Me and my friend Grayce spent a good 3 hours editing this mofo. So please take your time and review :3

* * *

Emily awoke sometime when it began to get light. The birds were chirping already and Emily was working out a training plan for the day in her head. Her body still ached but it was nothing a little warm up couldn't fix. She turned around in bed. Her eyes still weren't open and she was reveling in the comfort of her own bed. She didn't want to get up but she had to. She curled up to get the last bits of warmth out of her covers, opened her eyes.. and quickly realized she wasn't alone.

"Kazu.. what the heck are you doing here?" Emily said hazily. She stretched and swung her legs after the edge of the bed. Sure enough, Kazu was sitting in the alcove by her window, his arm over one of his legs casually. He looked tired. Without a doubt, he was up late last night taking care of this Rikia chick.

" I have nowhere else to be" Kazu said. Yep, he was defiantly out late last night. "My sister's away on vacation remember?"

"Oh" Emily said, remembering. She got up, her feet touching the already warm floor. She took off her sports bra and pants from yesterday. She didn't care that Kazu could see. It was too dark for any detail anyway not like she would care if it were. It's only been what... 2 and a half years. "How did that meeting with that girl go?"

She could practically see him sigh. "She's a piece of work," Kazu said. Emily took a new pair of pants and sports bra from her closet. "First thing she does when she sees me is yell at the top of her lungs **'**Kazu!'and then she hugs me... Americans..."

Emily giggled. The image of Kazu being hugged tightly by some tall blond American was such a sight since he was a little on the short side. She put her new sports bra and pants on. "So what's the deal with her now?" She asked. She ran her fingers through her hair. It was still nice and clean. No wasting time on a shower today. "Is she going to become a queen?"

"That's the problem," Kazu said. "Turns out you can't follow the Ice Road without the Regalia. The Ice Regalia reverses heat in your ATs to make it cold enough to instantly freeze water. Normal ATs can't do that. Therefore, she won't be the queen of anything." He looked at what Emily was wearing. "You aren't planning on training today are you?"

"I am." Emily said, looking over her shoulder to look at him. "I'm not going to advance my speed just by sitting here."

Kazu met Emily's eyes which made him smile. She looked away and continued to get dressed. She knew what was coming and she knew that by the end of it, she wouldn't get her training day in. Kazu strode over to where she was. He put his hands on her waist. One hand traveled up her arm and grabbed the shirt she was holding. He took the shirt from her hands and threw it on the bed. Kazu rested his chin on Emily's shoulder.

"Why don't you come with me and see Ringo get her ass whooped by the new girl, hm?" Kazu whispered quietly into her ear. He had the strangest way of making the most crude of words sound the most precious. He kissed her shoulder. "Or we can just go somewhere by ourselves, hm?"

"I would rather..." Emily swallowed. "Go train and... um... get faster"

"All by yourself? That doesn't sound very fun…" Kazu whispered. "And that hurts a little that you don't want to spend time with me..."

* * *

In the end, Emily decided to take a day off. Kazu insisted on taking her there himself, so Emily didn't bring her ATs. It wasn't like she needed them anyway. The wind blew wildly in her hair and she laughed the whole time. She closed her eyes just to feel. She could feel what it felt to go fast, faster then most normal riders could go. A speed that Emily knew she would never achieve. It was great to feel this way sometimes…

The wind stopped and Emily opened her eyes. They were standing on top of a building with a single door off to the left side of the roof. There was a woman standing next to the door. Emily recognized her as Muen, the Rumble queen. She was a terrifying appearance, with a burn scar encasing on of her eyes and another jagged scar crossing the other eye. She wore completely black, everything from her hair to her ATs were jet black. Even her eyes were jet black and those eyes were now looking at her and Kazu, right into their very souls it seemed.

"On this night, the hunter will become the prey.." Muen began, eyes still piercing into Kazu.

"As he has now entered the Sleeping Forest" Kazu finished. It was a code between the Kings and Queens during Sleeping Forest's time and the tradition stuck. Each King and Queen had to know the poem by heart so as to prevent a false King or Queen from entering the meetings.

"What is she doing here?" Muen pointed one black glove-clad hand in Emily's direction. "You know that we don't allow regular riders into our meetings, especially little girlfriends."

"Lighten up, Muen-san" Kazu said. He set Emily down and Emily immediately took Kazu's hand. Muen was dripping with venom and Emily didn't feel like being bitten. She had a feeling it would hurt. "When Emily heard that Ringo-chan is going to get her ass whooped by the new girl, she skipped out on her normal plans to come see. Besides you let Fei into the meeting last night"

Muen turned her eyes onto Emily. She sniffed. "Very well." Muen said, turning to enter the door. "But keep your mouth shut, girl. You don't have much say in anything in here. And Kazu," Muen didn't even use an honorific. "Rikia has been dying to see you again. She's your case."

Kazu sighed and led Emily down the stairs behind the door. It was strangely cold on such a hot summer day. It smelled of water and metal, like the place where Behemoth held their matches. It was strange to think that the most powerful forces in the AT world have their meetings in this old building of all places.

They reached the end of the stairs, which opened up into another hallway that split into left and right. The left side was just a door and the right had another set of stairs going up.

Muen pointed to the left "Rikia is waiting for you." Muen said. She put up her hood, which made her even more mysterious. "Be no more then 10 minutes. I won't miss dinner because of you three fuckers"

Muen disappeared up the stairs to the right, her black shoes stomping against the concrete. Emily looked after her, wondering what her problem was. Emily had only met the Rumble Queen once before and that was only fleeting. _'I guess first impressions aren't always wrong..' _Emily thought to herself, remember how terrifying Muen was then.

"Ready to meet Rikia?" Kazu said, squeezing Emily's hand a little tighter.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Emily asked. She remembered what little Kazu said about Rikia, about how she was a 'piece of work' "She can't be worse then Muen, can she?"

Kazu laughed and put his hand on the doorknob. "I guess you'll see, Emily" He replied, opening the door.

The door opened up into a room with just a table. The woman leaning against the wall immediately stood up at attention, even though her ears were covered with blue and white headphones and the music coming from them was hearable from across the room.

'Is that.. her?" Emily thought to herself as the woman smiled at Kazu and Emily.

She certainly had a strange appearance, for one who looked no more then 18. For one, she was tall, taller then Kazu. Despite her height, two dirty blonde pigtails descended to the middle of her back. Her one visible eye was blue, her bangs covering the other eye. She had distinctly American features, a little rougher then most Japanese but still very pretty. Even more unusual was what she was wearing. She had on a tie-dye sports bra and bell-bottom jeans. A blue belt with a peace sign belt buckle adorned her waist. On her feet, the Ice Regalia, which looked like a blue and white version of the Flame Regalia, shone with pride. Her bracelets jangled as she took off her headphones.

"Kazu! Emily!" She practically ran over to where Kazu was and hugged him tightly. Emily giggled. That girl towered over Kazu and had to bend down to reach his shoulders. Emily's giggles ceased as the girl turned to her.

To Emily's surprised, the girl bowed to Emily. "Emily Adachi!" She said, her one blue eye sparkling "What an honor it is to meet you. As Kazu-san may have told you, my name is Rikia Akimoto, but you can call me Rikia or just Riki"

"Umm" Emily stuttered. "Nice to meet you, Rikia. Umm.."

"Nice to meet you too Emily!" Rikia said, cutting Emily off, unaware of how nervous Emily was. "I know a lot about you, you're somewhat of an AT hero in America. Jon Omaha himself promoted you so everyone in the American AT world knows you. It's quite a sensation" Rikia turned to Kazu. "When is the battle starting, Kazu? If you don't mind, I'd like to have 5 minutes to myself to prepare"

"In 10 minutes Muen said" Kazu said. "And we don't mind. I was thinking that I could show Emily where you and Ringo will be fighting."

"Umm.." Emily said "What's this battle for exactly?"

"Oh?" Rikia said, adjusting her headphones to fit more exactly on her neck. "Kazu didn't tell you? This is the battle for my queenship. If I win, then I become an accepted Queen. Isn't that great? I may never be a main 8 but at least the Ice Road will be recognized." Rikia did a peace sign. "And that's what I came here for. And even if I lose, I'll get to battle Ringo-san, the Crazy Apple and the Thorn Queen!" She shivered "It's so exciting!"

Kazu looked at his watch. "Rikia Emily and I will be going now to the battleground." Kazu said, taking Emily's hand again. "You should go prepare. Ringo is not an easy opponent."

"I know so." Rikia said. She looked at Emily again, her blue eye darkening like she had a secret "Trust me you all will not be disappointed."

* * *

"So what do you think of Rikia?" Kazu asked Emily as they walked up the stairs to the right. "I told you, she's a piece of work."

"Um..." Emily said. Rikia was such a strange girl but Emily didn't want her first impression to be her only impression. "I don't know yet. She seems nice enough though a little outspoken. She's pretty. I'm a little jealous"

"Ha," Kazu said. "I don't know what to really think of her either. She's a piece of work but it could be that she hasn't lived in Japan much, though she is half-Japanese. She lived in America most of her life, customs there are a lot different from Japan. I'm more eager to see how good of a rider she is."

"Me too" Emily said, moving a little closer to Kazu in the cold stairway.

They eventually reached the top and Kazu opened the door to the battleground. Emily gasped in surprise, mostly from the fact that a room this big could be hidden in an old building like this. The battleground consisted of a network of pipes which Emily could only assume were the building's old plumbing system. A balcony higher up surrounded the network of pipes. All the members of the council sans Ringo were there. Kilik was by himself, reading as usual. A girl with wild orange hair that Emily knew as Fei was talking to Agito. Muen was watching Ringo, who was in the battleground, tying up her ATs and checking the wheels. Kanon was also with Ringo, doing the same kind of checks. With a little kiss goodbye, Kanon made his way up the ladder to sit by Muen. Kururu and Ikki were walking in front of Emily and Kazu. Emily called to Kururu.

"Emily!" Kururu said, waving. Her pink hair was messy as it always was, even more so now that Kururu didn't wear the pins anymore. "It's been so long"

"It has. Last June or July, was it?" Emily said. She felt Kazu let go of her hand to talk to Ikki. The two boys went off in their own direction leaving Emily and Kururu by themselves. "How are things?"

"Fine." Kururu said. "Better then fine actually. It's been great these past few months. My father let me get my own place to live away from home for a while and Ikki is thinking of moving in with me"

"Ah! That's wonderful!" Emily said. "How's Yayoi doing?"

"Great!" Kururu said, excitedly. Yayoi had joined the AT repair team, Tool Toul To to further her skills in tuning and one day become Agito's tuner. "She's learning so fast and she has a natural talent for AT repair. She misses being able to enjoy the summer, but she's so devoted to becoming Agito's true tuner… it's nice to see that kind of devotion in a person."

"It is nice." Emily said. Emily looked towards Ringo again. Ringo was standing very focused and ready for battle. The Thorn sub regalia gleamed, also thristy for blood. "Have you met Rikia-san yet?"

"The Rink Queen, or rather Queen-to-be?" Kururu said. "Yes I have. She's interesting but her ATs are out of this world. Rikia was nice enough to let me look at them and I really want to meet this Ruby girl. How she managed to make it that the ATs would reverse heat flow" Kururu shook her head, thinking about how complex that would be. "She must be one hell of a tuner."

"Real question is," Emily said, almost laughing at Kururu's obsession with ATs. You couldn't be a genius at AT repair and not be totally in love with the things. "Will Rikia-san be able to defeat Ringo? I mean, isn't Ringo pretty much undefeated?"

"She is almost undefeated, especially in zero pressure." Kururu said. "As that's not the situation here, I don't know about the outcome. Ringo is powerful, but none of us here have any idea of Rikia's abilities besides the fact that she can instantly freeze water. It will be an interesting match."

"Ay! Kururu!" Ikki called. Kururu turned to Ikki, her attention instantly fixed on him and him only. "Any bets?"

"W-well... ummm..." Kururu studdered as Ikki and Kazu walked towards Kururu and Emily "I don't know. Rikia's fighting style is a mystery, so I can't make any judgements quite yet"

"Ringois going to get her ass whooped" Kazu said. "Rikia is a completely new rider with new strategies and new tricks. Even with her analytical skills, there's no way Ringo can counter all of Rikia's tricks."

Ikki's eyes narrowed. "Ringo is a good rider and she has good analytical skills. Better then you think" He said. He reached into his pocket and took out 2,000 yen. "I bet Ringo wins and Rikia is nothing but a pile of bones and skin at the end"

Kazu laughed and took out 2,000 yen himself. "You're on" Kazu said. "I'll be 2,000 yen richer by the end of the day"

"Hey! Down there, chit-chatting like a buncha middle school children" Muen said in a loud voice. Emily cringed. Muen's loud voice was more fierce then her normal level of volume. "Get your asses up here so we can get this over with."

The 4 of them made their way up to the balcony. They sat down next to Agito and Fei. Fei was still talking to Agito and Agito seemed very uninterested. This was the second time Emily got a close look at Fei. She was even wilder then when Emily first met her. Her orange and blond hair was out of control and she wore a leather jacket and jeans. Her ATs were black and spiked. She had a very soft voice but she talked fast and about really nothing of interest. It took Fei a minute to take a breath and notice Emily.

"Who are you?" Fei said ,with a rude edge to her voice.

"I'm Emily Adachi" Emily said, a little shocked at the attitude that Fei gave off. "You must be Fei of the Northern Isles"

Fei leaned towards Emily and Fei's yellow eyes narrowed. She leaned in even further so that their faces were very close. Emily swallowed. Fei started intently at Emily for a good while before Fei leaned back and smiled, exposing sharp canines.

"Yes, that's me" Fei said. "The Coyote of the Sea as I was called. It's nice to meet you, Emily Adachi. I have to say, you look much different from what I imagine."

"Oh?" Emily said, interested. How did Fei know her?

"Yes you're the Flame King's girl eh?" Fei's grin grew. Emily blushed as she always did when someone called her that. It was more of a compliment to her then anything. "I imagined you being more..." Fei looked for the words "speedy-looking. Either that or just one of those girls who hangs around storm riders to seem cool."

Emily wanted to say something else but Fei turned around to talk to Agito again. Kazu and Ikki were still talking about the battle, which Emily really wasn't interested in. She was interested in seeing Rikia fight, but the outcome didn't really mean anything to her. So what if there was another Queen? It didn't change the AT world too much.

There was something that worried Emily, the introduction of ATs into America, the power of ATs could be addicting to some riders and those riders can seek power. That was what Sora was, a rider with a hunger for power. Maybe that's why the council is still around, to prevent the new riders from becoming too powerful..

"Emily," Kazu said, touching her shoulder. "You're a little quieter then usual. Is something wrong?"

Emily nearly jumped. She gathered herself quickly and said "No, no." She said. "I'm just... enjoying the view."

Kazu was about to say something else when Muen stood up and jumped into the middle of the battleground. The pipes creaked underneath the Rumble Queen. She looked at Ringo, who nodded, then Muen called for Rikia.

Rikia emerged from the right side, carrying a black messenger bag. She looked the same, bracelets and all but the aura around her had changed. There was a determined air around her and instead of her one exposed eye being blue, it was yellow. Rikia looked at Ringo and Ringo stared back, like tigers circling each other, not noticing Muen spelling out the rules. To them there were no rules.

Muen left the battleground with a quick jump. "Begin!" She said.

Before Ringo could move, Rikia put up her index finger, as if to ask for a reached into her messenger bag and brought out a pair of speakers. She then took a slim purple iPod and hooked it up to the speakers. A couple clicks later and a pop song came from the speakers.

"Before that song is over, Ringo" Rikia said. "You'll be on the ground, giving up."

Ringo growled low and launched herself forward into Rikia. Both girls flew a ways before Rikia landed against the wall. Ringo withdrew her whips and flung them towards Rikia. Rikia put her arms up and the whips bounced off her skin harmlessly.

'_No way!'_ Emily thought to herself. _'Those whips can crack bones and they didn't even make a mark on Rikia's skin!'_

Ringo went after Rikia again and again the whips bounced off Rikia's skin like they hit a rock. Ringo jumped backwards, expecting a rebound attack but Rikia just stood there, smiling like she always did. Rikia rolled out casually towards Ringo. Ringo stood firm, ready to take an attack. Followers of the Sonia Road were defense specialists anyway. If Ringo could analyze Rikia's fighting style...

"You're expecting me to fight back huh?" Rikia said. She crouched down, keeping her eyes fixed on Ringo. Her ATs whirred. "Well here I come."

Rikia flew forward, icy trails following her path. Emily could feel the cold from where she was sitting. Ringo braced herself and prepared to counter Rikia's attack. She raised her leg.. and suddenly found herself unable to move. She looked down and saw that her legs were encased in ice. Rikia smiled and easily landed a punch on Ringo's body. Ringo flew back into the wall, the ice shattering on contact. Rikia skated over to where Ringo lay. Ringo got up quickly and her whips flew again. This time, one of the whips wrapped itself around Rikia's arm. Ringo froze. That has never happened to her before, without her opponents arm being ripped to shreds anyway.

"I thought you would have realized by now, Ringo." Rikia said, grabbing the whip wrapped around her arm. "There's something different about my skin."

Rikia pulled Ringo towards her but Ringo kicked Rikia in the chest which caused both girls to split in different directions. They both landed on their feet, their ATs stopping the backward momentum. Ringo jumped up to the pipe above her. They still kept their eyes fixed on one another.

'_Something different about her skin?' _Emily thought. She looked at Rikia. There seemed to be nothing wrong with her skin. It looked as soft and breakable as normal human skin. Only when Rikia moved her arm a little did Emily see that Rikia's skin had a certain sheen to it. Her skin was, in fact, covered in ice.

Ringo must have realized this at the same time because she changed her stance to a defensive one. She must have also realized at this point that Rikia's skin being covered in ice makes her impermable to physical attacks, unless there was a way to shatter the ice.

"Ringo" Rikia said. She extended her arm out. The ice on it grew until it wasn't clear anymore and everyone could visibly see the ice that covered her. Emily could hear Ikki curse quietly. "They don't call it the Ice Road for nothing."

The ice receded from her arm and became the clear shell that it was before. Without a second of thought, Rikia skated over to Ringo once more. Ringo raised her leg. Though she knew physical attacks would most likely fail, she needed to stop Rikia somehow. To her surprise, Rikia jumped over Ringo and landed behind her. Ringo turned on a dime and saw that Rikia still had her back turned. Ringo cautiously let down her leg.

Suddenly, the pipe Ringo had been standing on gave way and Ringo fell onto the pipes below. She heard something crack and pain spread across her leg. Ringo looked up and saw Rikia jumping down after her. Ringo stood up and tried to move but the leg that she landed on wouldn't obey. Rikia slammed her leg down on Ringo's shoulder. Ringo crumbled under the force and fell down once more, seemingly defeated.

Rikia reached up to her hair and moved her bangs to cover her yellow eye. That instantly seemed to change her. Her eyes closed and she laughed. She then looked up at Kazu and made a peace sign.

"I'm not done yet." Ringo whispered to the ground, too low for Rikia for hear.

Before Rikia could notice, Ringo lashed out with her good leg, the whip on her AT hitting Rikia hard on her side. Rikia flew into a pipe and water burst from it, hiding Rikia from view. Ringo stood up, leaning all her weight onto her good leg. She watched where Rikia landed intently, waiting. Water sprayed onto Ringo's legs and arms. Rikia emeraged from the flow of water and landed on the pipe that she broke. Her yellow eye was back.

Without a word, Rikia stuck her AT above the water. Her AT wheels moved very quickly and the water that was flowing from the pipe froze, all the way up to Ringo's legs and arms. Ringo struggled but found she couldn't break free from even the thin encasing of ice she was put in. Rikia skated down the flow of ice and stopped in front of Ringo like an ice skater, causing a flurry of shaved ice to hit Ringo in the face.

"As you may have noticed, Ringo, that isn't normal ice." Rikia said, inches from Ringo."It's ice empowered by my ATs and therefore unbreakable through normal strength"

The final notes of the song were beginning to play. Rikia had 30 seconds to end the battle.

"I'm sorry, Ringo," Rikia said. Her left hand balled into a fist and her yellow eye flared. "But the song is about to end. I don't break my promises."

A fist of ice covered Rikia's clenched fist. Ringo swallowed and closed her eyes. Rikia launched her fist froward into Ringo's face. The ice encasing Ringo shattered with force and Ringo flew back into another pipe. She felt her head hit the pipe and everything went black.

Rikia watched Ringo go unconscious and fall to the ground. Rikia once more switched her bangs to cover her yellow eye. Rikia visibly relaxed and her fist of ice disappeared. She looked up at the balcony, at Emily this time, and made a peace sign. In the distance, the song finished its last lines:

'_Oh the lights still on, we're dancing_

_Yeah the floor is shaking_

_In this disco heaven'_

_

* * *

_A/N: The song used at the end is Disco Heaven by Lady Gaga


	3. Honey

**A/N: **The plot thickens..

* * *

The audience remained silent, shocked and their eyes fixed on the blond haired American. Ringo lay on the pipes unmoving, though still breathing and alive. Rikia lowered her hand and her smile fell. Her blue eye looked down in shame, her hair set back in place. She silently hopped back up the pipes above and exited from where she entered. Nobody moved until Kanon jumped down to where Ringo was. He crouched down and touched Ringo's shoulder. Ringo's hand swiped out, batting Kanon away. He whispered something to Ringo and tried to help her up. She said something back that Emily couldn't hear. When Ringo finally stood, using Kanon as support, Muen stood up as well. The black-haired Rumble Queen leapt down to where Kanon and Ringo stood.

After a couple words, Muen looked up to the balcony. "Thorn Queen Ringo has been defeated by Rikia of the Ice Road." Muen said, scanning the audience for any reaction. "Whether Rikia becomes the Rink Queen is still yet to be decided."

"Well that was fucking boring and a waste of my time!" Fei said, stretching. Agito looked to have much the same opinion. "Ringo got her ass kicked in like two minutes. What kind of battle is that?"

Agito got up while Fei was talking and left out the right side. Fei got up and chased after him, already babbling about something else that Agito was sure to be very uninterested in.

"Kazu," Emily said quietly, tugging on his sleeve. "Didn't Rikia only have to defeat Ringo to be the Rink Queen?"

Kazu looked down at Emily. He pointed to the broken pipe. "The pipe broke under Ringo's weight," He said back. "And that lead to her getting her leg broken, which lost her the match. Rikia didn't win by herself."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Ikki said, taking Kururu by the hand.

They both jumped down to the broken pipe. Kazu and Emily followed, Emily being carried honeymoon style. Ikki pointed to the pipe and beckoned them to take a closer look. Emily walked a little closer to the pipe and gasped along the edges of the pipe were little melting ice crystals and inside was a bit of frozen water. It seemed to be that the metal had been frozen very quickly and the pressure changes inside the pipe weakened the pipe even further. Even though the pipe was relatively new, the kind of damage it sustained could have weakened it to the point where it would have collapsed under a normal human's weight.

"Looks like something froze the water on the inside so fast that the pipe collapsed." Kururu said, touching the edge of the pipe tenderly. "Do you think Rikia did this?"

Ikki nodded. "You saw Rikia jump over Ringo with her leg up, when she put her leg down the pipe broke." Ikki said. The Storm King pointed to frozen water. "You saw how fast Rikia could freeze water. Freezing the water in the pipe instantly would be a piece of cake for her."

"Wow." Emily said, taking a step back. Emily didn't think much of Rikia when she first saw her. Rikia looked just like your everyday rider, to think that that she could hold so much power over water was incredible. Kururu wasn't kidding when she said that the Ice Regalia was a masterpiece.

Ikki took out 2,000 yen and handed it to Kazu, who pocketed it, "Told you she's a new rider, with new tricks and new strategies." He said "There was no way Ringo could have seen that pipe thing coming even with her analytical skills."

Ikki grunted and him and Kururu jumped back up to the balcony. Emily turned and looked at Ringo, who was still leaning herself against Kanon, looking at the pipe. Ringo had a strange face on, something between anger and awe. Emily couldn't imagine how she felt. A new girl from America had beaten Ringo and this new girl didn't even break a sweat. For the undefeated Thorn Queen, it was a mark on her record that she would never forget.

Ringo and Kanon left the battleground, no doubt on their way to a hospital. Emily looked after them, feeling a little bad for Ringo. It will take her a while to recover from her injuries, both mental and physical.

"Kazu," Muen said. Emily's attention turned to the Rumble Queen, whom she forgot was even there. "Let's go to the conference room. The tapes of the battle need to be analyzed so the clear winner can be announced. I have a feeling that I won't get home for dinner tonight."

The Rumble Queen left in a flash, leaving behind Emily and Kazu in the big room. The rest of the Kings and Queens had left to go to the conference. Kazu sighed and leaned against the broken pipe, not looking forward to another all-nighter. He closed his eyes and rubbed them, already feeling the bags form underneath his eyes.

"I think it's amazing" Emily said, waving her hand over the broken pipe. "That someone like Rikia can hold such power, just because of different ATs."

"I'm sure part of it is skill," Kazu said. Still keeping his eyes closed, he lifted his foot to show off the Flame Regalia**. **"If Spitfire hadn't left me those videos or Agito hadn't helped me train, then I never would have become the Flame King, Regalia or no Regalia."

Emily looked towards Kazu and smiled a little bit when she realized how tired he must be. She walked up to him and placed her hands on his waist. Kazu's eyes opened. Emily leaned herself more fully into him, placing her head against his chest. She felt him lean his head against the top of hers and breath deeply. It was very silent, only the sound of their breathing penetrated the thick air. Suddenly, Emily heard a faint sound come from the entrance to the battleground. She lifted herself off of Kazu, who sighed at the loss of warmth, and looked towards the entrance. The sound got louder until she recognized it as music.

'_How much do I want to bet it's Rikia?' _Emily thought to herself.

Emily wasn't wrong. Out from the entrance emerged the blond-haired American, eyes closed, headphones over her ears, humming to yet another song Emily didn't know. Rikia walked across the battleground to the ladder, Emily noticing that Rikia wasn't wearing her ATs but rather carrying them. It took Rikia until she reached the ladder to realize that she was being watched. She turned and saw Emily and Kazu leaning against the pipe.

"Oh!" Rikia said, almost falling back on her ass out of fright. She bowed swiftly. "I didn't notice you two there." Rikia blushed. "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything. Muen just said I needed to hurry and get the conference room." She paused and pointed at Kazu and Emily. "You know where that is right?"

"Oh" Emily said. She, of course, had no idea where the conference room was. "Umm. Kazu does. I'm not entirely sure. This is my first time here."

Kazu mumbled something underneath his breath. Without a word, he jumped up to the balcony and beckoned Emily and Rikia up. Rikia and Emily made their way up using the ladder. Once they got up, Kazu wasted no time and walked to the right, exiting through a door. The two girls followed Kazu and found that the door opened up to a long curved hallway with no windows or other doors branching off from it that they could see. The three eventually got to the end of the hallway, which was just a door. Kazu entered the door and Rikia and Emily followed. Behind the door, there was another huge room with a table and chairs and a couch in the corner. The chairs were arranged with eight on one side of table and a single chair on the other. The other Kings and Queens were already there, occupying five of the eight chairs, with the absentees being Nue, Ringo and Kazu. Kazu, still staying silent, went to take a seat between Ikki and Kilik. Fei was sitting by herself on the couch in the corner, watching Agito talk with Muen. When Fei saw Emily, she stood up and flashed her canines in something of a smile.

"Oi!" Fei said, waving to Emily. "Emily! Get over here!"

Emily went to sit next to Fei. She looked back to see that Rikia's cheerful expression had turned to one of sorrow and shame. Emily was puzzled. Why would Rikia suddenly feel that way?

Muen stood up and raised her hand for silence. When everyone quieted down, Muen motioned for Rikia to take a seat in the single chair across from the eight. Rikia did as she was told, also pausing her iPod and taking off her headphones. She looked very small in the eyes of all the Kings and Queens, her one exposed blue eye not wanting to meet any others.

"Rikia of the Ice Road" Muen said. "Today you have beaten one of our own, Ringo the Thorn Queen, in AT combat. Now, in normal circumstances, this would have been the time where we would accept you into our ranks. The reason we are not is because that victory may not have been your own. The pipe that Ringo was standing on broke and rendered her useless for the remainder of the battle. If the pipe broke by its own will or by yours, that is what we are trying to find out."

Ikki then stood up. "Flame King Kazu, Pledge Queen Kururu and myself, Storm King Ikki, have inspected the pipe. It seems that the water inside the pipe had been frozen in almost an instant, weakening the pipe so it would break under Ringo's weight" Ikki said. Ikki pointed to the Ice Regalia that Rikia was holding. "All of us here know that the Ice Regalia can almost instantly freeze running water as we have seen in the battle we just observed."

Emily was surprised at how formal the meeting and the way they speak were. All the people in this room were usually very informal, with the exception of Muen. She couldn't believe the way Ikki was talking especially. He was such an outspoken kid when he wasn't acting like a King.

"I agree with Ikki" Kilik said, putting down his book. "However, I believe that we should see if Rikia can truly freeze water through objects like pipes or walls. Therefore, we can know if it was her or if it was outside help."

Muen motioned for Rikia to put on her ATs. Rikia did as she was asked and then Muen pointed at the wall on the right side.

"Behind that wall is a network of water pipes. They used to provide the building with plumbing." Muen said, walking over to the wall and placing her hand on it. "If you can truly freeze running water, then the pipes should burst and water should seep through the cracks in the wall. If you can do that instantly, then it will prove that you won the battle between you and Thorn Queen Ringo"

Rikia nodded and rolled over the wall. She kept her head down until she reached the wall. She switched her bangs to cover her blue eye and expose her yellow eye. Her attitude changed and she lifted her head. She placed her hand on the wall and counted to 3. Nothing happened and Emily could see the smirk form on Muen's face. Suddenly, there was a trickling sound and water seeped from the cracks in the wall. Muen walked up to a crack in the wall and put her hand in the running water. Rikia moved her hand just slightly and the water seeping from the wall froze. Muen shook the ice off her hand, her black eyes showing some surprise.

"Wow," Fei whispered to Emily. "I haven't seen anything like that in my life and I've been in ATs ever since I heard of them. That's some Regalia that girl has"

Rikia switched her bangs back to cover her yellow eye and then she walked back to her seat. Muen also took her seat back. The room lay silent until Kazu stood up. Emily watched him walk over to the wall and touch the ice.

"Rumble Queen Muen" Kazu said. "I believe its time to welcome Rink Queen Rikia into our ranks"

* * *

"That was incredible!" Emily said, saying the word 'incredible' for at least the 50th time that night. They were both on their way home and she was going on and on about what she witnessed "I mean, all the water just instantly froze, even the water that was on Muen's hand!"

Kazu nodded, not really listening. He was exhausted after finishing all the formal acceptance ceremonies and sending some of their messengers out to tell the AT world about their new queen. He almost dropped Emily a couple times, though she didn't seem to notice. It was about three in the morning and Kazu hadn't gotten any sleep for two days. He was looking forward to a night in his own bed and getting some rest.

Emily and Kazu arrived at Emily's house. There was a note on the door that said that her mom and dad were going to be in the Kanto region, visiting relatives. It wasn't at all unusual for her parents to do that. They liked to impulsively visit relatives. Kazu set Emily down and leaned against the house, too exhausted to move much more.

"You can stay at my house tonight" Emily said. He didn't react. "I mean, we don't have to sleep in the same bed. I can be a squirmer as you know from the last time" She laughed lightly remember how she woke up in the morning and Kazu had been on the floor. "My father's bed is pretty comfortable."

He still didn't say anything. Emily took his arm and he leaned against her. She half-carried him into the house and up to her bedroom, setting him down on the bed. Almost instantly, he was asleep, the Flame Regalia still on his feet. Emily bent down and took off his ATs, setting them at the foot of the bed. She kissed his forehead softly and with a smile, she left him to sleep.

She went to her parent's room and lay down on their bed. It still smelled like her mother did sometimes, like sushi and ramen. She took off her shoes and wiggled her toes. Her feet hurt. She was standing for quite a while, waiting for Kazu to get done in the conference room. When Kazu emerged, Rikia was not far behind, bubbling with excitement at the fact that she was now officially the Rink Queen. And then, just like that, her mood turned somber and left the building without much word to anyone else.

The rest of the Kings and Queens followed suit and left soon after. Fei followed Agito to wherever he went during the night hours, tugging on his sleeve. Kilik went off to somewhere else in the building. Emily almost giggled at that and thought that of course someone like Kilik would live in such a place. Muen left like a shadow, like she always does, complaining about how she needed to go out and get dinner someplace else. Ikki and Kururu talked to Emily and Kazu for a while before Kururu got tired and begged Ikki to go home with her. Ikki caved in and they left together, no doubt to the same house where they would sleep in the same bed.

Emily rolled over and looked at the ceiling. She secretly wished that her and Kazu lived together or that Kazu wasn't so busy or better yet, that she was a queen. If she could be a queen, they could spend everyday together and make excuses for it. If she were a queen, she would actually feel like she belongs at Kazu's side. Emily almost laughed. It was silly to dream that one day she could become a queen. She didn't have any natural talent with ATs and, in that, she couldn't choose a road or even make her own road.

Emily yawned, not realizing in all of the excitement that she was tired. She closed her eyes and began to drift off.

And just like the night before, before she drifted off, she heard a female voice singing. Although this time, Emily vaguely thought it sounded like Rikia's voice...

'_Get my honey come back, sometimes_

_I'm gonna rap that jack, sometimes'_

_

* * *

_

**A/N**: Song at the end is 'Honey' by Moby


	4. Tonight

**A/N:** Holidays delayed this chapter's writing and posting. Me is sorry :[.

Many thanks to my lovely beta reader, TheRish. X3

* * *

Emily awoke before light touched the sky, still feeling hazy and tired, but something told her she needed to get up. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, she sighed. She only slept for three hours. She pushed herself up and sat on the edge of the bed. Her shoulders ached more than her feet; that's what she got when she slept in a funny position. Her feet touched the floor, making no sound. Creeping down the hallway to her room, she opened the door quietly. Sure enough, Kazu was still there, sleeping silently, unmoving. Emily smiled. He looked so cute when he slept.

Emily made her way downstairs. No one was home yet, though she didn't really expect anyone. Her parents were still supposed to be in Kanto, and who else would come to Emily's house? Her parents were notorious for not liking Storm Riders, and as all the people she was friends with were Strom Riders . . . not a good mix at all. She remembered the time Ikki had shown up at her house at five in the morning to see if Kazu was there. Kazu wasn't at her house, of course. Turns out he was out on the racetrack that morning. Anyway, her parents weren't very happy and had promptly kicked Ikki out, and then they went on to yell at Emily about chastity and the such. She sighed at the memory.

Since she missed the training day before, Emily decided that she would leave Kazu to sleep and train today. If he was awake, he would stop her and tell her to do something else. It may be true that she overtrained and sometimes forewent spending time with Kazu for training, but if she were ever to feel like she belonged, she had to train. Unless some miracle happened, she had to accomplish her goals in the regular human way.

Emily walked over to the kitchen and grab an apple to eat on the way to the school. The school was where she usually trained, because many buildings were in close proximity. She went to the closet by the door and retrieved her AT bag. It felt like forever since she had seen her ATs. She took them out of the bag and admired them. They were unremarkable, black and purple with slightly above average wheels and screws. She touched one wheel, and it moved smoothly. Kururu, being one of Emily's close friends, made sure that Emily's ATs were always in perfect working order. She never had a problem with her ATs since Kururu fixed them six months ago.

Emily slipped on the ATs and buckled them. Her bag in hand, she left the house just as the first bits of dawn entered the sky. She moved at a casual pace, her ATs making virtually no sound as they rolled against the pavement. It was going to be a great day. She could see no clouds in the sky. Perfect day for ATs since, if the ground was wet or slippery, it could impair a rider's speed.

She reached the school when the sun had just fully emerged from the horizon. She passed the gates and rolled into the courtyard, enjoying the morning breeze and the faint sound of music on the air.

She paused. "Music?" she thought, searching for the source. Rolling over to the other side of the courtyard, she went through the space between the buildings that led to the back courtyard. Even from a distance, Emily recognized the person there.

Rikia Akimoto was standing, facing the sun, moving her head to the beat of a hip hop song. Her eyes were closed, and she had one hand on her headphones. She didn't have on her ATs and was in fact barefoot. Her ATs were sitting next to her right foot, glowing the morning sun. Emily remained silent, watching, wondering. Most normal people wouldn't be hanging around a junior high school at this hour, especially not barefooted and listening to music.

Rikia's eyes opened, and Emily receded further back into the space. Rikia stomped the ground with her left foot, making a very muted pound. She straightened up suddenly and turned to where Emily stood. Both her eyes were exposed, and Emily saw that one of her eyes was blue and the other yellow, an abnormality even among foreigners. She stomped the ground again and moved closer to the space between the buildings, making more sound. Taking off her headphones, she hung them around her neck, stomped again and smiled.

"It's nice to see someone else up this early, Emily," she said, turning around and making her way back to where her ATs were. Emily emerged from the space into the courtyard, a little puzzled at what just happened. Why did Rikia only notice Emily there after she stomped? "I assume this is your place to train. I'm sorry. I like it here, too. Best view of the sun from here."

"Umm, it is. I was going to do some training today . . . " Emily said, rolling after Rikia. "What were doing here exactly?"

Rikia paused. She didn't like to lie. "Just tuning my senses" Not a total lie. "The morning is the best time to get the blood flowing to the brain." she said, taking off her bracelets and putting them on the ground next to her ATs. She still kept her headphones on and her iPod in her pocket. It was a natural thing for her; she felt naked without them. "I'll warm up with you, if you don't mind. I have some training to do myself actually."

"Oh?" Emily said. She shouldn't be surprised that Kings and Queens still practice and train, but she was. Rikia had shown such strength just yesterday, and to think she did something as routine as warming up made her seem a little more human. "No, I don't mind."

Rikia sat down and put on her ATs, buckling them up. Emily noticed for the first time that they bore a remarkable resemblance to the Flame Regalia. Instead of being black and orange however, they were white and blue, and a wolf with frost surrounding it replaced the kitsune and fire. They also were shaped like female ATs, a little narrower and sleeker than male ATs. They fit to Rikia's foot like a glove, like they were made for her especially.

"What's the route you usually take for warm-up?" Rikia asked, standing up and stretching. "I usually end up going to the other side of town and back. That's about fifteen miles one-way. Thirty miles seems light enough to me."

Emily's eyes widened. "Light?" She said, shocked that Rikia considered that distance light. She vaguely wondered if miles were measured differently in America. "I'm not sure how it is in America, but thirty miles in Japan is quite the distance on ATs."

Rikia laughed, her blond hair shaking. "The Ice Road emphasizes strength and endurance over speed." She said, the last giggles fading from her body. "I can see why thirty miles can seem so much to you. I can run long . . . " She shook her head and smiled. "But I'm just on the edge of being B-Class speed. If my average was any slower, then I wouldn't be a queen."

Emily was surprised to hear this. Rikia seemed pretty fast the day before against Ringo, although now that she was thinking about it, Ringo did move just that much faster than Rikia did. Rikia's fighting style was more standing in one place and deflecting attacks. Combine that with passive aggressive environment changes and no wonder she was made a queen. Many mysteries still surrounded Rikia however, like those blue and yellow eyes that were looking at Emily funny right now.

"We can just take your route, no?" Rikia said, still wondering why Emily looked so pensive. "I mean, it's not that important that I skate thirty miles a day. I just do it to keep myself healthy . . . "

"Oh," Emily said, snapping out of her trance. She must have seemed like an idiot in front of Rikia. "Well thirty miles is too long for me, so I guess we can take my route. My house and back is about four miles."

"Well, let's go!" Rikia said, grabbing Emily's hand and beginning to power her ATs. Both got up to speed and shot off toward the house.

* * *

"That was great!" Rikia said, coming to a stop and smiling. Emily stopped next to her and leaned back against the wall. She wasn't so tired that she couldn't do anymore training but she needed a moment and a stretch. Rikia, surprisingly enough, was just a little bit faster than Emily on ATs but not by much. Rikia was fast enough so that she added three extra miles onto the route and still managed to make it back to school in the same time.

"Has anyone ever told you that your stance is wrong when you run?" Rikia said. Emily looked up. No one had, not even Kazu, who was more interested in watching Emily practice than giving her tips. Then again, not many people watched her train. She hated it when people watched her, too much like a bug under a microscope. "Your right foot turns out and causes air resistance. It could be why you're not an A-Class rider."

"Does that really affect speed that much?" Emily said. It seemed like too small of a thing to be the whole reason.

Rikia nodded. "Even a little air resistance can cause a decrease in speed," she said. She raised her hand and ran in through the air with the palm toward the wind and then again with her fingers facing the wind. "You get a lot more resistance with more surface area for the wind to catch on. That's why the Flame Regalia is always remolded to the rider's foot when it's passed on, to provide maximum speed. It's not only your wheels that make you go faster."

"How do you know so much about ATs?" Emily said without thinking and immediately blushed. Of course someone of King level would know everything about ATs. They were the best of the best, almost godlike. "I'm sorry that's a stupid question."

Rikia laughed and shrugged. "I learned everything I know about ATs from my tuner back in America," she said, her laugh fading into a smile. She seemed to be remembering something. Emily decided not to ask. "It's because of Ruby that I'm here right now. I never thought I would ever be a good Strom Rider, let alone a Queen. Everything has moved so fast since..."

Rikia shook her head, dispelling the thought. She didn't come to Japan to be reminded of it.

"Let me see you do some basic AT moves, and we'll see what else we need to fix, hm?" she said. Emily sighed and got herself off the wall. A bug under a microscope she would be then.

* * *

Turns out that Emily had been doing a lot wrong. For one, she didn't turn her feet right at all, and she couldn't wall ride at all. Rikia was patient however, showing her the right way along with throwing in some tricks of her own. Emily had just met Rikia the day before, but she liked her. Rikia was easily liked, despite her outward appearance, and she seemed to hold a sense of mystery that Emily had never seen in anyone. Her mood swings, her blue and yellow eyes and most of all, her ATs and how they worked were all something Emily wanted to know.

"Hm? What about it?" Rikia said, taking a bite of the lunch Emily brought.

Emily always packed extra in case Kazu showed up and was hungry. It was about noon; they had been training for about five hours, and although Emily didn't get much sleep the night before, it was one of the best training days she ever had. They were both in the shade of the north wall, Rikia cross-legged and Emily with her legs out in front.

"Hello? Earth to Emily, this is Rikia!" She waved in her hand in front of Emily's face.

Emily jumped out of her trance. "Come again? Sorry, I spaced out," she said, laughing lightly. She should have gotten more sleep.

"I said, how about I become your tutor until you become an A-Class rider?" Rikia said, her mouth full of rice. She held up a finger and swallowed. "I mean, I don't know you, so it's not like I would make any judgments." She took a drink of water. "If nobody teaches you, you can't learn."

"Umm . . . I don't know," Emily said. Secretly, she was shocked at the fact that Rikia would ask something like that so casually. She was a Queen, even if only for twenty-four hours, and she barely knew Emily, nor did Emily know much about her. "Would you even have time? You're a Queen now, and Kazu is always gone . . . " She bit her lip. She hated thinking about how little she saw Kazu anymore.

"Eh, I'm not one of the main eight roads." Rikia said, leaning her head back against the wall. "I'm a sub queen, if you get what I'm saying. I didn't come to Japan to be put to work. I came to Japan to be recognized, so when I go back home, all of America will call me 'Rink Queen Rikia' and my team will be considered the best of the best." Her one blue eye looked at Emily from the side. "I have lots of time, and I see a lot of potential in you."

"Thank you, Rikia," she said. No one had ever said that to her before. Living in the shadow of Kazu, Ikki and Yayoi had put her in an odd light in which she never got compliments and was expected to be more of a cheerleader than anything. When someone saw Emily, they usually waved her off as someone with no promise in ATs at all. It had only recently begun to bother her. "Would you really do that for me? I mean, you barely know me."

"I know you enough to see that what you lack in talent, you make up in pure strength and endurance," Rikia said. She smiled a small smile. "You're like me more than you know."

"Really?" Emily said, almost choking on her bite. Herself being like Rikia? It was a prospect that seemed so far fetched. Rikia was a strong female character and a fantastic rider while Emily was . . . less than that, to say the least. "Why do you say that?"

"No reason," Rikia said. She put the bento down and rode back out into the sunlight. The sunlight caught her blond hair like a jewel. Rikia ran her hand through her hair, laughing lightly to herself. Emily thought vaguely that she was enjoying the sun way more than most people. "I love sunny days."

"Oh?" Emily said. She put both bentos away and stood up as well. She remained in the shade, however; she didn't like the sun too much. It burned her always-pale skin.

"It's like seeing," Rikia said, smiling big and waving her hand through the air. "When the sun shines, I can imagine what the world looks like a little better. I know it's bright." She closed her eyes. "And when things are bright, they have brilliant color." Rikia looked toward Emily. Her eyes were open again and the exposed blue eye seemed to gleam even deeper then before. "Though, I don't know what a lot of colors look like."

"What do you mean by that?" Emily said. Colors were colors, weren't they? They aren't any different any place else in the world. "Colors are colors. The colors in Japan are the same as in America."

Rikia laughed, a reaction that nearly startled Emily. "Don't you all take biology here?" she said. She lifted her hair and Emily saw her strange yellow and blue eyes again. For the first time however, she noticed that Rikia's eyes were not looking directly at her but rather through her, like Rikia was staring off into space. "I'm blind."

Emily froze. Rikia . . . blind? How is that possible? Rikia seemed to be able to see just fine, in fact maybe better than other people. She found Emily earlier with ease and even identified her without seeing her. When they were warming up, she showed no signs that she couldn't see where she was going. In the fight with Ringo, Rikia gave no indication that she could not see Ringo's attacks or where she was. She recognized people, a feat most blind people have trouble doing. How was this possible?

"I've been blind ever since I was born," she said with a matter-of-fact tone. "I've learned to adapt to it. These," She pointed to her headphones, "are not just for show. They help me see." She turned to look at Emily. "Since I've lived without my sight for so long, my other senses have been heightened, especially my sense of hearing. I see with my ears, if that makes sense."

"See . . . with your ears?" Emily whispered.

Rikia stomped the ground with her AT, making a much sharper sound than her foot from that morning. She pointed to Emily. "The sound vibration I just made has traveled from my foot to you," she said. "Through that I can see that you're standing right there, motionless. But I don't need that loud of a sound to see. Even my voice right now is enough. I can see your every movement, hear your every sound and feel the roll of your ATs against the ground. You have your own distinct sound; everyone does. That's how I know who people are, even if I've only heard them on TV." She smiled. "You have a more harmonious sound than a lot of people do. That makes for a good rider."

Emily wanted to say something, but her lips couldn't move. She could say nothing. Rikia had just revealed a mystery about herself in such a casual manner. It was like she was talking about the weather, not about seeing through sound or how she could be a Queen and still be blind. This was such a rapid turn of events. Emily and Rikia were still strangers but Rikia seemed totally comfortable disclosing such a fact.

"Emily! Rikia!" A voice came from on top of the wall. Emily turned around and raised her eyebrows. Kazu was sitting on the wall, looking down at the two girls. He didn't seem at all affected by the atmosphere as he leapt down to the ground. Rikia spoke as he rolled closer to them.

"Good afternoon, Kazu," Rikia said without turning around. Despite her choice of words, she was still casual, not at all seeming angry or offended. "Are you here to pick up Emily?"

"You're awake?" Emily said. She hadn't expected Kazu to be awake so early, since he hadn't slept much for the past two days. "I thought you would have slept longer."

Kazu sighed. "I woke up and realized you weren't there," he said. "I didn't want to stay in that creepy house by myself so . . . " He flipped the end of Emily's hair lightly, teasing her. "I came here because I knew it's where you would be. Training hard as ever." He looked toward Rikia. "And it seems you have company as well."

"Actually," Emily said, blushing a little at the prospect of Kazu watching her. It had been a while since he did that. "Rikia's been helping me today. She was here this morning, so we warmed up together."

Rikia turned at the sound of her name. "She's a quick learner." Rikia said, fully turning around to face Kazu. "Though I am surprised you haven't yet told her a lot of things I told her today."

"Been busy a lot lately." Kazu said, shrugging. "As one of the main eight, I barely have any free time." He sighed and shook his head. "This is one of the few times I actually get to do whatever I want for the day."

"You can watch, Kazu. You'll see how much Emily has improved," Rikia said, turning back around and making her way to the south wall. "Emily, let's work on your wall riding a bit more, okay? I think you almost got it."

So it came to pass that Kazu sat in the shade of the north wall while watching Emily attempt to wall ride. Rikia didn't seem much different from before. She still threw out tips when needed and was very encouraging. Still, the whole time, the fact that Rikia was blind hung in her mind. She watched her closely, looking for any indication that she couldn't see anything. There wasn't any visible indication. Rikia followed Emily's moves with her eyes just like a person with normal vision would, and she caught things that Emily didn't notice.

"Emily," Rikia said after Emily had fallen off the wall for the third time in a row. She pointed to Emily's right foot. "Did you injure your right foot recently? You don't seem to put as much pressure on it as you should."

"I don't think so," Emily said, looking up. She moved her right foot in all directions. No pain or anything would limit full movement. "It's not painful at all. Why do you ask, Rikia?"

"You favor your right foot a bit," Rikia said, bending down to look at Emily's foot herself. She touched the wheel of the AT and moved it. It moved smoothly, as far as Emily could tell. Rikia pursed her lips. "Take off your right AT."

"What's up?" Kazu said, having gone from the north wall to the south wall almost instantly. He was interested in what Rikia wanted with Emily's right AT.

"Just wondering something," Rikia said. Emily complied with her request and took off her right AT. She gave it to Rikia, who looked at the wheel closely. In a quick movement, Rikia took Emily's wrist and put it up to her ear. She then took the AT and put it up to the other ear. Emily didn't move an inch, although Rikia looked a little silly like that. Rikia closed her eyes and seemed to be whispering something, like a beat. After a couple minutes, she put Emily's hand down along with her AT. "Ah, that's it."

"What?" Emily said, wondering what Rikia could have found out from that. It looked more silly than anything, not at all informative. "What is it?"

"When was the last time you got your ATs checked?" Rikia asked. "You're friends with Kururu, right? I'm pretty sure someone from Tool Toul To would be happy to help out a friend of the Pledge Queen's."

"Six months ago," Emily replied. "By Kururu herself."

Rikia smiled. "You're lucky. Kururu is an excellent tuner," she said. She picked up Emily's AT again. "Even so, your ATs have worn down since then. The tune is off and there's a screw loose in your right front wheel. Bring them to Kururu tomorrow, and she'll be able to fix them in a snap."

Kazu's eyebrow raised. "It's not common for a King to be able to detect problems like that in another's ATs," he said. "Did you used to be a tuner?"

"Yes, I was," Rikia said, standing up and stretching her legs. "My tuner, Ruby, taught me first about ATs, so I took after him for a while. But then I wanted to ride ATs, so I got myself a pair. I've been riding them ever since."

"Ruby is a he?" Emily said, catching the fact that Rikia used 'him' instead of 'her' in referring to Ruby. "Ruby is a girl's name, isn't it?"

"Yes, he is. Don't you know that tuners are generally the opposite gender of their tunees? As for the name, his parents are weird people, much like mine were," Rikia said. She tugged on the belt loop of her jeans. "My mother was big into the 70's and 80's. I'm wearing some of her old clothes from that era now, actually."

"Where is Ruby now?" Emily asked.

"Still in America," Rikia said. Emily detected a bit of a sad edge to her voice. "Tool Toul To is based in Japan, so I should have problem finding a tuner to help me."

"Oh," Kazu said, looking a little confused. "Usually if the Regalia was made for you, you wouldn't need a tuner. You mean those Regalia weren't made for you? Someone had them before you?"

Rikia's eyebrow raised. "Ruby made these Regalia, using the core of another similar Regalia, but he made them for me," she said, in a surprisingly rough tone. "I'm their sole owner. I simply have trouble hearing my own ATs' tune."

She turned and walked off in the direction of her bag. Kazu blinked, taken aback by the sudden hostility.

"What did I say?" he asked.

"I don't know," Emily said, shrugging. She looked at Rikia, who was taking out speakers from her bag, the same speakers she used the day before when she defeated Ringo. "I don't think you said anything wrong."

Emily stood up and looked at Kazu. He smiled and brushed her cheek with his thumb. He was happy to see her, happy that he could see her improve so much. It was no mystery that Emily wanted to become a good rider so that she could keep up with Kazu, the great Flame King. It didn't matter to him, however, how good a rider she was. What mattered was that she understood about ATs and his 'occupation'. Being away from her so much was still hard, but she understood.

He leaned in toward her face. Emily blushed, just like she always did before they kissed. He took her cheeks between his hands and kissed her softly. Her hands rested on his waist and her eyes closed. The sun beat down on Kazu's back but the real warmth that spread through them was from the contact. They kept kissing, their lips not moving from one another's.

Lost in their world, they didn't notice Rikia stand back up. She heard the movement of lips against another's and the quicker breathing that came along with it. The sound sparked a flash of memory through her mind but she quickly pushed it aside. Instead of focusing on it, she plugged in her iPod and turned the volume on the speakers all the way up. She clicked to a song and pressed play.

The sound made Emily and Kazu jump. They stopped kissing and looked toward Rikia, still holding the iPod and looking at the two of them. She didn't look angry but rather had more of an intent of getting attention.

"If you two want to leave, you can," Rikia said. She turned the volume down and kneeled to fasten her ATs. "I'm done with Emily for the day and was just going to do some training myself."

Done? Already? "Oh," Emily said. It almost sounded like a command to leave. She wanted to stay, however, and see what Rikia did for training. "Can I stay and watch?"

"Sure," Rikia said. "I won't be long. I just have one thing I want to see if I can still do."

Without another word, she walked over to the wall. She closed her eyes, and the Regalia on her feet opened, exposing a stainless steel inner working, not unlike something resembling a bird taking flight. She put her arms by her side and breathed in deeply. The familiar tingling feeling of using the Ice Regalia flowed through her. Rikia knew that feeling so well. Her eyes opened. She smiled to herself, though nothing had seemingly happened to the wall.

Emily and Kazu watched this in silence. Kazu was truly starting to get bored already, but Emily was watching intently. He didn't notice but she saw a small amount of a blue vapor travel from her ATs to the ground and into the wall.

In a sudden movement, Rikia swung her leg forward, landing a kick on the wall. It wasn't a strong kick, but instead it looked rather soft. But within seconds, a large crack appeared in the wall that branched out like a bolt of lightning. The wall then crumbled easily into a pile of dust.

Kazu was taken aback, muttering a small curse to himself. A seemingly soft kick had done that to a solid concrete wall. What kind of magic was this?

And the song that Rikia had been playing was already ending, though only seconds seemed to have passed. Emily noted it in her head as the same song as she had heard that very morning.

_'Take my hand_

_Go Ahead_

_Play my Game_

_Keep your head'_

_

* * *

_

_A/N: Please Review if you can! It makes my day when I read one!_


	5. Electric Feel

**AN: **A long time coming but school and sickness seriously hindered my available time

As always, a big hug and thank you to the Rish for being such an awesome beta reader 3

This is when the plot starts to really pick up. Enjoy!

* * *

_Six months later . . ._

Emily loved morning rain.

The soft thumping of it against roofs and windows were the perfect alarm clock. The way it made the ground smell later in the day was completely divine. And when the sun finally shined through all those clouds at the end, it was like the whole world was cheering up and was born anew.

One such morning, Emily was sitting at a chair by a window overlooking the rooftop of her neighbor's house, smiling at the rain. It was mid-March, six months since Rikia had come to live in Japan, and an early spring pleased Emily to no end. Not only were there lots of rainy mornings, but it also meant that she and Rikia didn't have to train inside all the time and could go back to the old school. Working on tricks in the sun or rain was much more pleasant than doing them inside.

Thinking of Rikia, Emily checked her phone. She was expecting a text from the Rink Queen any minute regarding training for the day. Since Emily had been training with Rikia, she had improved her AT skills tenfold. Wall riding was a habit now and as for speed, they were at the same speed, Emily a little faster but not by much. She was an A-class rider now and that settled her mind more than anything. Though not a Queen, she finally felt like she at least belonged by Kazu's side.

Kazu... she wondered where he was right now. Though she saw him the day before, she missed him when he was gone, which was much more often in the last month than in the previous five. She suspected he felt the same way, as he became more protective of her over the last month.

"Yo! Emily!" A voice from outside the window startled her and caused her to fall off the chair by the window. Recovering quickly from the scare, she leapt up to see exactly the person she was expecting: Rikia.

It was still too cold to dress like she normally did since summer ended, so Rikia had taken to wearing a members-only jacket (from the 80s of course) over a plain pink tank top instead of her sports bra. Leggings and a miniskirt replaced bell-bottom jeans. Her distinctive blond hair was still back in its trademark pigtails and still covered her one yellow eye. Said hair was now soaked from the rain, but she didn't seem to care all that much. She knocked on the window and Emily opened it.

"Scared ya much?" The blond American said, laughing to herself. Emily felt a little stupid; it wasn't the first time Rikia had appeared on the neighbor's roof without invitation. "I thought you would have adapted to my habits by now."

Emily's eyes narrowed. "I wasn't scared, just startled is all," she said, grabbing her AT bag. She jumped out the window and onto the roof and hadn't even realized it had stopped raining. "So, what's the plan today? Maybe I have graduated to learning some Road-specific stuff?"

Rikia raised her hands defensively. "Hey, if you wanna follow the Flame Road, not my area of expertise," Rikia said. She raised her foot, showing off her Ice Regalia. "These babies don't like the heat at all."

The Ice Regalia. One of the most mysterious Regalia out there. Kururu herself had looked at them. The Pledge Queen had concluded that the ATs cooled water in the air to create the ice. They did this by instantly by removing the energy in water, making it a solid rather than a liquid. 'That thing is amazing!' Kururu had said. 'The cores themselves are made up of a composite I can't even begin to comprehend!'

"True," Emily said, sitting upon the roof and putting on her own ATs. Since she had them checked out by Kururu, she made several improvements upon them, making them lighter and more aerodynamic. "If Kazu wasn't so busy, I'd ask him."

She personally decided that she wanted to become one of the Flame Road and focus on her speed above all else. However, that wasn't working out for her so far. She had the endurance and the strength but speed didn't come naturally to her. It worried Emily because all of the Storm Riders she knew were good at something, but she didn't seem to be good at anything.

"Oh yes," Rikia said, trying to sound casual but unable to hide her interest. "How is the situation with those riders being attacked going?"

There had been reports of whole Storm Rider teams being attacked and some of them killed. Kazu and the whole council had been working overtime to catch the attacker. The descriptions were vague. Some survivors called the attacker a teenage boy wearing a black cloak. Others claimed that the attacker was a college student with shark-like teeth. Still some claimed that the culprit was not a man at all but rather a demon woman. One fact stayed consistent: the person was wearing ATs and the power of them was nothing any of them had seen before. They said that they couldn't move even if they hadn't been paralyzed with fear. Their ATs had been disabled somehow.

"Nothing new," Emily said. Rikia had been strangely interested in the case since the first attack, and Emily knew better than to ask. She learned over the past six months that Rikia only disclosed things when she wanted to and not when anyone asked directly. "Still the same dead bodies and the same reports of that boy."

"Oh," Rikia said. Disappointment clouded her voice. "I hope they catch him soon . . . "

"Umm, so," Emily said. She knew that Rikia knew something about the attacks but couldn't ask about it. "What is on the agenda for today?"

Rikia smiled and jumped off the roof onto the ground. She looked up and beckoned. "You'll see," she said and then raced off toward the school.

* * *

Emily kneeled over, huffing. Rikia, with her high stamina, was just fine and dancing all around, talking about how though Emily was faster then Rikia, she had won the race. A 10-mile race with several hills.

"You got a head start," Emily said, leaning against the wall. "And I didn't think we were racing."

"You challenged when you passed me," Rikia said, removing the headphones from her ears. The headphones were more than an accessory; they enabled an otherwise blind Rikia to see. 'I can see without my headphones just fine,' Rikia said when Emily brought up the subject, 'but the even beats of music create a much better picture of what's around me.'

Emily rolled her eyes. Pushy as ever. She wondered to herself why Rikia chose to come here today. There were several puddles and the ground was soaked, not exactly good training conditions. Unless Rikia had something else in mind, of course . . .

"Why did we come here?" Emily asked. She slid herself down the wall, her legs feeling a bit like jelly. "The conditions aren't good to do anything on Air Treks, let alone do anything like wall riding or . . . "

"You train too hard," Rikia said, cutting Emily off. She sat next to Emily and began to remove her Ice Regalia. "I thought maybe today you could have some fun."

"What do you mean by fun?" Emily said. "A hike up Mt. Fuji, scaling Tokyo Tower with our bare hands?"

"Nope," Rikia said, smiling. She lifted up her Ice Regalia, now removed from her feet, and placed them in Emily's lap. "I mean, you get to try these out for a bit."

Emily's eyes widened. The Ice Regalia? Try them out? Leave it to Rikia to make trying out such mysterious ATs sound like a walk in the park.

"Ummm . . . " Emily put her hands behind her back, afraid to touch the ATs. She stuttered the next words out of her mouth. "Are you sure? I mean they are... Regalia and they are_ your _Regalia . . . "

Rikia kept smiling, quite amused that Emily was acting this way. "I'm serious, Emily," She said, standing up and walking out into the courtyard. "Consider it an early birthday present."

Emily's eyebrow rose. Her birthday wasn't for another three months. "It's a little early for that," She said. "Are you going back to America?"

"Yeah," Rikia said. She sounded sad, not exactly a surprise, considering that she had spent half a year in Japan and in that time, had made many a friend among the Storm Riders. "Ruby wants me back before winter ends, so I figure I'd listen to him just this once."

She had been talking about Ruby a lot the last month. They seemed to be more than just tuner and tunee, like best friends or something even more than that. Rikia had mentioned once he was in a band that she used to be in but other than that, Emily didn't know much about Ruby. If gaining information about Rikia was hard, then getting any information on her tuner would be impossible.

Emily looked at the Ice Regalia. If it was for Rikia, then maybe she would at least wear them for a couple minutes. She unbuckled her own ATs and removed them. Rikia smiled even bigger and clapped, which made Emily sigh to herself. She then took one Regalia in her hand, unbuckled it and placed it on her foot cautiously, waiting for any change. There was none. Shaking her head, Emily hastily put on the other Regalia.

Suddenly, a rush of power coursed through Emily's body, no doubt originating from her feet. It was an icy feeling but empowering nonetheless. The tips of her fingers tingled and she breathed out, and even her breath felt cold.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Rikia said, crouching down to Emily's level. "Kururu always tries to ask me about them, but only Ruby really knows their secrets. I just know how to use them. Speaking of which," in a quick movement, she grabbed Emily's hand and pulled her to her feet. "You can't just sit there and stare at them all day."

Emily caught herself before she fell over, not expecting Rikia to pull her up like that by force. "You want me to actually ride them?" She said, more out of nerves than disbelief.

Rikia nodded happily. Without much hesitation, she put on Emily's ATs.

"Now," Rikia began. "The Ice Regalia is not like other Regalia, as you know. When you wear them, instead of it drawing on your power, you draw on its power, which comes from the freezing of water. That's what I have come to understand, anyhow."

So this was the secret of the Ice Regalia and why Rikia never seemed to run out of energy. The Ice Regalia supplied power by removing energy from its surroundings, namely water turning into ice. Emily tried to wrap her head around the concept, not always being the best at science.

"However," Rikia continued, "while the power itself is unlimited, it's like a vitamin to the body. It's excellent in certain amounts, but too much is harmful. If you battle for too long with the Ice Regalia, your body starts to shut down, and you can sustain serious internal injury or even death from it." She looked at Emily and smiled brightly. "Don't worry. I won't let that happen to you today."

Emily shifted unsteadily on the Regalia. The icy feeling was at rest now, but hearing all of that made her nervous. She knew the Ice Road was a road of self-harm, but to think that something like that was able to kill her . . .

"Okay," Rikia said. She rolled out into the middle of the courtyard, beckoning Emily to follow. The Regalia ran smoothly and almost by itself. "As I said, the Ice Regalia's power comes from within, so it may feel a little different to move or wall ride, seeing as you actually aren't using your own energy, provided you continue to freeze water. To do this," She closed her eyes, relaxed her hands by her sides. "Close your eyes and feel the water in the air. Today is a good day to do that. Once you feel it, mold it into a shape, any shape, and the Regalia will the do the rest."

Emily closed her eyes. She could feel the water in the air around her. It hung on her skin and on the ground like a thick soup. She clenched her fist, focusing on the water there. Her hand grew cold and stiff, and a rush of energy coursed though her. She opened her eyes and saw that a thin casing of ice surrounded her fist. Suddenly, the ice shattered and fell to the ground. Emily blinked, confused.

"The ice doesn't like to stay frozen when you freeze it artificially," Rikia said in a happy tone, amazed that Emily had caught on so fast. "You have to focus on it, which is when the extra energy comes in handy."

Emily nodded and decided to try something. She focused on the water by her feet, feeling the rush of energy indicating that the water there had frozen. She pushed her right foot forward, jerking a little when it slid very easily and quickly. Rikia stood to the side, her arms crossed and waiting to see if Emily could actually 'skate' like she was trying to.

Emily moved her left foot now; it also almost threw her off balance. She breathed out and refocused on the ice. It re froze the new water and enabled to her to move further. She continued in this fashion until she had gotten up to a good running speed. She whipped around the courtyard, riding the ice. The wind whipped past her face, and she laughed despite herself.

If Rikia was amazed, she certainly hid it well. She watched Emily with a small smile on her face. It was the most harmonious sound she had heard in a while, Emily on the Ice Regalia. It saddened her however, seeing as though she was the Ice Queen and Ruby had made those ATs for her, Rikia was far from a true master.

Emily continued to skate around the courtyard, going faster and faster. Her laugh faded into a gentle smile. She had never felt so free, not even on her own ATs. The Ice Regalia responded to her every movement; it felt more like running or walking than using motorized roller blades. She closed her eyes just to feel it a little better.

That, unfortunately, was a mistake.

Unlike Rikia, when Emily's eyes were closed, she couldn't see anything, and therefore had no way of seeing any objects in front of her. Rikia tried to yell at Emily, to get her attention before she hit the wall, but it was too late. Emily felt her face hit the concrete wall... hard. Her eyes snapped opened as she fell back in a daze.

"Emily!" Rikia said, rolling over to where the dazed girl was. She bent down to Emily's level and felt around in her hair for any injuries. When she found none, she laughed, mostly out of relief. "Being blind is my thing, Emily. I don't think that was such a good idea."

"Eh . . . " Emily said, still dazed. Her head didn't hurt so much as her nose. She rubbed it, wincing. "Why are you laughing at me? You probably did the same thing once or twice."

"Not exactly," Rikia said, still laughing. She bent down and removed the Ice Regalia from Emily's feet. "I think that's enough fun for one day."

* * *

"Which band is Ruby a part of?" Emily asked. That question had been bugging her for a while now, and since Rikia apparently wasn't going to randomly say it, Emily took action.

Rikia paused in her bite, giving Emily a strange look with her one blue eye. She put the food down in the bento and said, "No one you would know. They're big in America but I'm not so sure about here in Japan."

"Oh," Emily said. They were sitting in their usual spot for lunch, on the northern wall. It was still cloudy, and the rain was coming and going still. Emily rubbed her nose; it still hurt, but she was thankful she wasn't hurt more. "Can you tell me the name anyway?"

Rikia blinked, and the look in her eyes turned suspicious. "Why do you want to know so bad suddenly?" she said. She took a bite of rice and swallowed. "Going Somewhere is the name. They're a rock band, and Ruby is the lead guitarist . . . " She started to giggle. "It's funny, because Ruby thinks he's so badass because he's the guitarist. All the girls think he's a womanizer too, but that can't be further from the truth. He's actually really soft and shy around women. Except me, of course."

The way she talked about Ruby . . . It was in such . . . "Are you guys like..." Emily asked carefully, "together?"

Rikia did a strange little smile that was almost painful, but Emily didn't seem to notice. "No, no," she said. "We're best friends, been that way since childhood. My mother was friends with his mother, so we met when I was just a baby and he was two. Ever since my parents died, he's pretty much been taking care of me."

Emily's eyes widened. "Your parents are dead?" she said in disbelief.

Rikia stopped in her bite and gave Emily a quizzical look. "Yeah?" she said slowly. "If they were still alive, I definitely wouldn't be over here. I would be in a special college for the deaf and blind, as I never actually told them about my... sound thingy. They wouldn't have believed me, anyway. I thought I'd mentioned that once before . . . "

"Not exactly," Emily said. She silently cursed Rikia's casual way of disclosing information such as that. It always threw her off, blurred the image she held of Rikia. "Do you miss them?"

"I did for a while," Rikia said, licking stray soy sauce off her lips. "But I was ten years old so it was a long time ago. I've learned to live in a world without them. I still have Ruby, anyway. He made it a lot easier to let it go."

Emily tried to imagine what would happen if she lost her own parents. It would be devastating, though her mother had been more vocal and opposing than ever, but she had Kazu and the rest to help her to get through it. Besides, she was almost nineteen, old enough to break away from her family and live on her own.

"Do you have any . . . " Emily began but stopped, as Rikia didn't seem too keen on talking any more about her personal history. She revised her question and asked, "When is your birthday?"

"The fifth of April," Rikia said. "I'm going to be twenty-one. That's part of the reason why Ruby wants me to come back, so we can go out, and I can have my first drink." She giggled. "Knowing Ruby, it won't be just one, but that's no matter. I've seen him drunk before."

Emily laughed as well, some of it from how old Rikia really was. She certainly didn't act her age. "Is it bad?" she asked.

"You don't even wanna know," Rikia said. "One time I had to carry him home; he was so drunk. And he's a good head taller than I am."

Emily tried to imagine someone taller than Rikia but came up empty. "Oh," Emily said, suddenly remembering something. "Have you seen Fei and Agito lately? I think he's finally warming up to her. I saw them downtown a couple days back, and he seemed interested in what she was saying."

"Fei is an interesting rider," Rikia said. "For one of the Fang road, she certainly has a strange harmony. It's faster-paced than Agito's and higher pitched." She shrugged. "I wonder if Agito notices that, too . . . "

Rikia trailed off and froze up, her face displaying something between surprise, worry, and anger. She looked at the building across the courtyard. Emily looked too but saw nothing of interest there. Standing up, Rikia looked more intently at the top of the building, her breathing faster than usual.

"Rikia, wha–?" Emily began but was silenced by Rikia's finger. A few more moments passed, and the rain began to fall again, though very softly.

Before Emily could even open her mouth again, Rikia pushed Emily into the alleyway between the buildings. The air left the black-haired woman in a sudden whoosh and left her gasping for breath. As she knelt down, trying to catch her breath, an icy feeling spread across her ankles. She glanced down and realized that her feet had been frozen to the ground. Emily looked up at Rikia and noticed that the Ice Regalia was released and that she was still looking at the top of that same building. Something told Emily that she daren't speak, so instead, using what little movement she had left, looked around the corner to where Rikia was so intently staring.

A hooded figure now occupied the roof, which had been empty just moments before, a man most likely, judging by the general shape. Although the man had not moved, Emily felt a chilling sensation run through her at the sight. This man was scary, even without appearance or voice to put to him.

"It took me longer to find you this time," the man said, jumping down from the roof. His voice added to his black aura. It was cold, without any emotion behind it but killing intent. "I almost got bored and ripped up this city looking for you."

"Funny," Rikia said. The warmth had left her voice as well. "Because it was I, who was looking for you, to finish what I started."

'What she started?' Emily thought, her heart skipping a beat. 'She knows this guy?'

"Always the one to fight, Rikia," the man said, coming to a stop just a few yards from where Rikia stood. "Can't we settle this with words, just like Mommy taught you?"

"The time for that has past, Nirvana," Rikia said, obviously using Nirvana as a name for the man. "I only see one way to save you, and that is to break the thin ice you're skating on."

The man known as Nirvana laughed cruelly. "Who says I need saving? Ruby?" he said, removing his hood. Emily put her hand over her mouth to keep from gasping too loudly. "You listen to him too much. Think for yourself."

He looked incredibly like Rikia. The blue eyes, the blond hair, the general face structure and features... all were like a male Rikia. On his body, he wore a simple black shirt and jeans, but on his feet were ATs, which were nothing like Emily had ever seen before. They were black, jet black and shaped like any other AT, but the wheels glowed. The wheels glowed a faint rainbow sheen, and they looked like they could open and close, much like Rikia's.

"I am thinking for myself, and I still want to save you," Rikia said. A faint hissing sound pierced the air as the Ice Regalia opened to reveal its stainless steel inner workings. She moved her bangs out of her face, both blue and yellow eyes exposed. Emily watched as that icy sheen overtook Rikia's skin, like it had once before. "So today is when you will die, brother."

Her headphones blared the beginning lines to a song that seemed so out of place in the grand scheme of things:

_'She got the power in her hands_

_To shock you like you won't believe'_

_

* * *

_**AN:** Song at the end is Electric Feel by MGMT. I always imagined the Justice remix to fit in at the end of this

Yes, Nirvana is named after the band. Rikia's parents again kolkol


End file.
